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Forum:Windows install is odd
The installation and reinstallation/update of Freeciv on Windows is not too great. I try to keep a link on the desktop... well, it changes to a different install directory (2.5.4 to 2.5.5). The other problem is that new versions of windows allow the program to be "pinned" and remembered on the taskbar. This directory change makes upgrading tedious. Since the new one and the old one co-exist now (a sitation unheard of in about 10 years), the pinned or bookmarked links will run the old, unupgraded program. Or they will do nothing if the uninstall has been run on the original. Can the developers please make minor updates install in the same place? Like all 2.6 versions use the same install location? :The installer doesn't do much, basically you can pick an installation for all users (requires admin rights) or not, you can select the installed languages (all, some, or none = English), the language can be what Windows says it should be or what you say in the installation, and you can define the name of the folder in the start menu for the shortcuts. The installer then notes what it did in an uninstall.exe, and adds this uninstaller as "remove program" info in the registry. :You can have different versions, e.g., old and new, or last 2.4.x (2.4.5) + last stable (2.5.5) + next beta (2.6.alpha) simultaneously, you can also install + try different clients (gtk2, qt, etc.) simultaneously. That works with the naming scheme, and if something is seriously broken you can uninstall "new" and continue to play with "old" until a better "new" is available. If "new" turns out to be okay (mostly, but not always) uninstall "old". That also works with the naming scheme. :Other schemes would be more complex. You can invent your own scheme and rename/copy the complete installed directory tree to something you like better. You'd have to update the shortcuts in the start menu, and of course uninstall.exe won't work anymore or cause havoc. But it's only a game, you can install it again if your "better" scheme turns out to be not better. –Dunnoob �� 10:42, August 7, 2016 (UTC) :JFTR, I just tested my own messy manual procedure again with 2.6.0alpha r33382: I have a good 2.6.0.beta0 installation (manually renamed from an older 2.6.0alpha, because some of my scripts do not grok alpha, but can handle beta and rc to find the freshest not yet released 2.6.0). :#I installed r33382 with two languages for all users, defaults for everything else. :#I deleted the three *.cmd scripts because I use one script with lots of hardlinks for this business, cf. . :#I copied everything else as is from the new installation into the old wannabe 2.6.0.beta0 folder. :#One library (libssl) was obviously not overwritten, it's obsolete, I deleted it, cf. . :#I uninstalled the new installation. That also kills the start menu folder with the new shortcuts. :#I started the wannabe 2.6.0.beta0, fixed ancients to trident (see ) and decree victory ;-) :–Dunnoob �� 15:13, August 7, 2016 (UTC)